The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is currently defining the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS); an architecture for next generation all-IP mobile networks. In the code division multiple access (CDMA) realm, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) has adapted the same architecture under the name Multimedia Domain (MMD) for future all-IP CDMA2000 networks. The IMS architecture is based on the Session Invitation Protocol (SIP), by applying the SIP framework to the specific needs of a commercial wireless network. These needs include among other things Quality-of-Service (QoS) control in both access and core network, load balancing, as well as the support for billing and charging.
Briefly stated, IMS services run on dedicated application servers and are triggered for execution by the users' call control proxies. A call control proxy triggers service execution when it receives a SIP signaling message that matches the trigger condition that is associated with the respective service. That is, every time a SIP message for a certain user arrives at his or her call control proxy, the proxy checks the message against the trigger conditions of all services to which the user has subscribed. For each trigger condition that fires, the server delegates control to the application server that executes the actual service logic. Trigger points are the main components of so-called initial Filter Criteria (iFC). For each service that a user has subscribed to, their user profile contains one iFC. Each iFC contains at least a trigger point, the address of the application server to be contacted, the default handling in case the application server cannot be reached, as well as some user specific service data that the call control proxy sends to the application server upon service triggering. The IMS specifies the framework for service execution, including the language to form initial Filter Criteria, the XML dialect in which these iFCs are exchanged between two network elements, the format of the service triggering message (SIP), and a mechanism for application servers to access user specific service data from the Home Subscriber Server (HSS), the central subscriber data repository. The IMS does not, however, specify concrete services, neither does it specify concrete trigger conditions. What particular services to offer, how to implement, provision, and trigger them, is out of the scope of the IMS. Such an architecture enables a great deal of flexibility and opportunity for service differentiation to the service providers.
On the downside, this flexibility makes the deployment and provisioning of IMS services—and in particular their associated iFCs—a complex and challenging task. This is especially true because the 3GPP—with the focus on service execution rather than service deployment and provisioning—define iFCs purely as a user level concept. Currently, however, efficient methods and systems for the deployment and provisioning of IMS services, and in particular their associated iFCs, do not exist. That is, in the current architecture an iFC needs to be stored for each service that a user has subscribed to for all users.